I've loved books ever since I moved to HW and my mom took me to the library there the first time. No that's not true -- I loved books before that -- but that was the day I fell in love with libraries. Worlds of limitless books and possibilities. I grew up in libraries. I think a lot of my friends did as well.

It's scary to realize that libraries are becoming under-appreciated these days. Where some of my friends live in Lapeer Michigan, the library is in danger of shutting down altogether. They are closing the libraries!? It's just crazy... some of my favorite books live there! Many of my local friends know about this impending tragedy, but it occurs to me that some people who read this may not.

Do you live in Lapeer? Go vote YES on August 7th, so the library gets funding and stays alive. Do you know somebody who lives in Lapeer? Send them this information, convince them to take the time to vote Yes. Do you know somebody who knows somebody....?

You see what I mean. Let's put our six degrees of separation to work, and convince all of Lapeer's voters that this needs to happen. Spread the word...votes for libraries... tell all your friends... have them tell all their friends....

The prospect of a library closing is appalling. I consider it a warning sign that a community is in danger of collapsing. Few things say "ghost town" quite like "... and this is where they once had a library."

One of my most staggering memories is from a few years after I moved out of the town I did my early growing up in, where I learned to read, where I got my library card. One could get a library card as soon as one could sign it, and I practiced and practiced my name, then Mom took me down, and I signed my own card. I could tell you the color of the ink, and the paper, and where the desk was in the tiny branch library. I could tell you where in that library the Oz books were shelved.

So a decade or so later, I was living in a different town, and watching the news, and they showed a huge chain being wrapped around the handles of the front doors for Redding's main library, and I broke down into sobs, without warning, all of a sudden. The county was out of money for the library.

It's open again now, but it was an intense moment for me, one I prefer never to see again.